10 The Brothers Karamazov
‘But why are your eyes so yellow? The whites are quite
yellow. Are you so worried?’ He smiled contemptuously and
suddenly laughed outright.
‘Listen; I’ve told you I won’t go away without an answer!’
Ivan cried, intensely irritated.
‘Why do you keep pestering me? Why do you torment
me?’ said Smerdyakov, with a look of suffering.
‘Damn it! I’ve nothing to do with you. Just answer my
question and I’ll go away.’
‘I’ve no answer to give you,’ said Smerdyakov, looking
down again.
‘You may be sure I’ll make you answer!’
‘Why are you so uneasy?’ Smerdyakov stared at him, not
simply with contempt, but almost with repulsion. ‘Is this
because the trial begins to-morrow? Nothing will happen
to you; can’t you believe that at last? Go home, go to bed and
sleep in peace, don’t be afraid of anything.’
‘I don’t understand you.... What have I to be afraid of to-
morrow?’ Ivan articulated in astonishment, and suddenly a
chill breath of fear did in fact pass over his soul. Smerdya-
kov measured him with his eyes.
‘You don’t understand?’ he drawled reproachfully. ‘It’s
a strange thing a sensible man should care to play such a
farce!’
Ivan looked at him speechless. The startling, incredibly
supercilious tone of this man who had once been his valet,
was extraordinary in itself. He had not taken such a tone
even at their last interview.
‘I tell you, you’ve nothing to be afraid of. I won’t say any-